Northwood fraternity confronts misconceptions

Published 3:00 am, Saturday, May 7, 2011

Hollywood has depicted fraternity life as one big descent into debauchery. This portrayal in recent years has moved from the silver screen to real life as reports of booze-fueled antics and hazing that led to tragic consequences at college fraternities gained widespread attention.

A Greek fraternity at Northwood University, Phi Delta Theta, is all business as it attempts to debunk what it views as misconceptions concerning what the “brotherhood” is all about.

Scholarly achievements. Athletic successes. Community Service. Philanthropy. Assuming student leadership roles in major campus events such as the annual Northwood International Auto Show. These are just a few of the things 36 members of Phi Delta Theta are doing that they say is a much more accurate reflection of the fraternity’s core principals than the much-more highly publicized misdeeds of a few fraternities.

“Throughout the past decades fraternities have been put to the test in controversial areas such as hazing and alcohol,” said Alex Fredwall, a Davison sophomore with a dual major in management & marketing management. “Phi Delta Theta is proud to say that we are part of a program called Hazing Hurts and this year celebrated 10 years of alcohol-free housing.”

Fredwall, who said he’s the fraternity’s resident historian, said Phi Delta Theta is the largest on Northwood’s campus and through its campus and community involvement is “setting the bar high” for fraternities everywhere.

“Socializing isn’t the only reason for a fraternity,” he said. “We help out in the community and the school to make a better name for ourselves, our fraternities, and to simply create opportunities.”

Joshua Culbert, an international business management major from Brighton, said, “Hollywood has created films that make fraternities look bad, but that’s simply not the case. While some may point to isolated incidents throughout the country, that is far from the norm in Greek Life.”

Culbert feels the best part of being in a fraternity is the brotherhood bond that is pervasive throughout Phi Delta Theta.

“As a group we get along so well, which allows us to be very successful throughout the community and at Northwood,” he said. “We come from all over the country, yet we share many things in common.”

Like the pride its members take in being four-time reigning champions of Greek Week, a hotly contested athletic contest that pits all Northwood fraternities against each other for campus bragging rights. Phi Delta Theta, a Michigan Epsilon chapter, last month again won the coveted crown by defeating its counterparts in sports such as basketball, flag football, soccer and others.

“Greek Week has always been and always will be one of the most important and competitive events of the year, no matter what fraternity you belong to,” Fredwall said.

Culbert said Greek Life has inspired him to become more active on campus and has allowed him to make important contacts.

“It’s allowed me to network and meet many influential people in the business world, who are brothers not only from the Northwood chapter, but around the country as well.”

Fredwall agrees.

“I have no regrets about Greek Life,” Fredwall said. “It only adds to me as a person and has opened more doors for me than I would have been able to access if I hadn’t joined.”

Fredwall said his fraternity has a strong and positive presence on-campus and in the Midland community but they’re hardly content: “One can bet that next year we will be pushing even harder to be even more involved with the campus and the Midland community.”